Google Launches Improved Spell Checker For Chrome And Docs

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With the release of the latest Chrome Beta today (version 26), Google is rolling out a new spell checker inside its browser and on Google Docs. The new version features support for three additional languages (Korean, Tamil and Albanian) and a number of other improvements. The most important new feature, however, is that users who sync their Chrome settings between devices can now also sync their custom dictionaries across all of their machines, so “you won’t need to teach that new Chromebook how to spell your name” (or remind it that the hot startup you’re writing about really doesn’t have any vowels in its name).

Also new in this version of Chrome is an enhanced version of the “Ask Google for suggestions” spell check feature that doesn’t just use the browser’s built-in dictionary but also goes out to Google’s web services to check your spelling. This new version, Google writes, features support for “grammar, homonym and context-sensitive spell checking in English, powered by the same technologies used by Google search.” For now, this feature is only available in English but Google says it will roll it out for other languages soon.

The new spell check engine, Google says, “even understands proper nouns like ‘Justin Bieber’ and ‘Skrillex,’ so if you’re wondering how many Ns there are in Dananananaykroyd, worry no more (there are four).”

Users on Windows, Linux and Chrome OS will see the new spell checker appear in the stable version of Chrome soon. Mac support, it seems, will take a little bit longer.